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Travels with Jack and Sam
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nov. 2017 – jan. 2018

Travels with Jack and Sam

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    26 november 2017
    Travels with DogsTravels with Jack and SamResenär

    Leaving Home

    26 november 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    On Sunday, November 19, 2017, we set off from Tatro Road on our trip which may or may not last for two month. It was a blustery day which was scary for two people unused to the swayings of their Alto caravan. But with good spirits and an equal amount of trepidation we set off. I'll will post a departure video when I figure out how to do that.

    Our first camping spot was Bass River State Forest on the New Jersey Shore. ($25.00) We got there 15 minutes before closing (who knew campsites had closings?) so the clerk was not terribly interested in answering the unusual amount of questions we had. This was Renee’s first experience booking a camp site and she hadn’t inquired about hook-ups, the electric, water and sewage kind. Bass River had none of these BUT there was a communal source for potable water. We made our way to this pronto since we had about 45 minutes of light.

    We remembered the right side of the caravan to stick the water hose, got that all fitted up, and let her rip. Awesome! except as much water as went into the caravan came out of the bottom. Harry twisted every valve he could find but we eventually had to call Louise, our lifeline at Discount Rental in Montreal. She had assured us that we should call her (day or night!) whenever we got stumped. This was our third call in two days. We love Louise.
    Harry and Louise worked on the problem for 30 minutes (daylight fading) and finally Louise just said we should bring the Caravan to an RV repair place in the morning. Sad! but motivating, so we continued to study the owner’s manual, examined the illustrating photos with a magnifying glass, and finally found one little valve that still needed to be turned. Really awesome! We filled up and went to our little space in the Forest where we would spend the night. We were the only people in the Forest.    Läs mer

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    Assateague - Nat'l Seashore 11/20 & 21

    26 november 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Despite the issues we had on our first night camping, I woke up feeling exhilarated and free. We explored Bass River State Park, and then headed one hour south to the Cape May Ferry which took us across the Delaware Bay. On the other side we took off down Highway 1 finding our way to the Assateague National Seashore where we camped for two nights ($15 a night). Our campsite was on the sand on the Bay Side, less wind, and again we did not have water or electricity hook-ups but our battery had recharged and we could fill our tank with water. We did have access to a cold shower building. That was exciting - complete shower done in four blast of icy cold water.

    The real problem with no electricity hook up is not being able to make coffee in the morning. Sad! Especially since we had new coffee from Eva to try. But we found a way around this set back - we stole electricity from the Ranger station to make coffee before the Station opened. That's what you can see Harry doing below. I had the strangest feeling that this is how bears must feel when they realize that people have bird feeders hanging outside - is that too obscure a reference?

    As you can see, the beaches are beautiful. You probably know that Assateague is famous because of the wild horse herds that roam the Island in both the Maryland and Virginia part. Assateague has a great Visitor Center where we saw a film about how the horses came to be living there as well as great exhibits about the local aqua culture. There are two herds at the National Sea Shore in Maryland and more in Virginia. The horses are left wild in Maryland which means no care is given to them. They are kept to a steady number - something less than 200 - by means of a vaccination given to the mares after they have had one foal. In Chincoteague foals are auctioned off which is the point of that annual event where the cowboys herd the horses across the channel.    Läs mer

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    Assateague to Charlottesville

    26 november 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    We left Assateague early Wednesday, November 22 - some of the pictures below are still from there. We took off in a rain storm with Harry doing a great job of getting us to Charlottesville - about six hours. Our campsite in C'ville is what probably most of us think of as an "rv campsite" but it turned out to be really good for us. This was the first time we had a hook up for electricity, water and our very own sewer dump and we had to back in the camper. That was the royal "we." All of these were camping firsts - hooking up those services, using the sewage dump, BACKING IN!!! We also unhitched from the camper for the first time since we planned on going into C'ville to eat and tour. Big milestones for us. So we rewarded ourselves with a meal out at a lovely restaurant in C'ville called C&O recommended by Gail and Ethan. Totally agree! One of the pictures below is of the restaurant and another one of those pictures is of my lovely fig and goat cheese salad. The next day was Thanksgiving and we had reservations in the late afternoon at Maya's. Before dinner we spent the afternoon walking around the University of Virginia which was inspiring - so beautiful and I love to think of my dear friends who attended here. Thus ended November 23rd.Läs mer

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    Charlottesville - Monticello

    29 november 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Friday was our last day in Charlottesville and we dedicated it to visiting Monticello. I think everyone's a little fascinated with Jefferson these days in view of Hamilton and the most recent Jeffersonian biography -- but I was not prepared for the wash of emotion I felt as we started our 11:00 o'clock tour of Monticello. Jefferson began life with 3000 gorgeous acres and throughout his life he owned as many as 600 slaves. The tours given of Monticello are very aware of the slavery factor and there is no question of evading the ever present achievement and contribution of the enslaved population to the grandness of Monticello. And yet, Jefferson shines as a major American product of the enlightenment.

    His home has many unique objects - for example, over his bed there is a skylight, one of 13 throughout the residence, and the first in American architecture. he also built a storage space over his bed where he stored his out of season clothes, and put round holes into the walls for circulation. He had huge gardens which fed Monticello and where he experimented with various vegetables which made up a large component of planation diet. He loved beans and had a huge variety of them. For a reason not disclosed in the tour, he wanted to minimize slaves waiting on the family so he devised things like a wine elevator in the living room where wine could be delivered by means of a dumb waiter. Of course, some one had to be below to load the wine...He also hated wasted space so therefore had no fixed dining table. He used tables that could be pushed back into the quarters of his room.

    We also went on a slavery tour and that guide was quite militant about the unfathamable contradiction of a man who wrote "all men are created equal ..." but also owned hundreds of slaves and fathered four children with Sally Hemmings. He valued the worth of his female slaves who could produce more humans, and he separated families during his tenure at Monticello.

    He also died bankrupt. Monticello and its slaves had to be sold at his death with no respect given to intact families. Monticello has only had two private owners before it went into a protected status by a private foundation. All in all, it was a very memorable day.

    We are off in the morning to Roanoke Island, North Carolina - home of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.    Läs mer

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    Day 7 - off to Roanoke Island NC

    2 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    We left our Misty Mountain (Charlottesville) campgrounds on the Saturday following Monticello trip - heading to North Carolina. The end of the day brought us to The Refuge at Roanoke, a campground on Roanoke Island that sounds more romantic than it is BUT we had a full hook-up which by now you should understand means electric, water and our own personal sewage dump.

    This Roanoke Island is about halfway down the Cape Hatteras peninsula which we were eager to explore. It is also the place where there was The Lost Colony of Roanoke. There are two towns on the Island, Manteo and Wanchese which are both names of Algonquin indians who befriended the settlers. Manteo is the more developed of the two towns and where we got a totally amazing "breakfast in a bowl" at TL's Family Restaurant, that is, grits, a biscuit, bacon, sausage, cheddar cheese and two eggs for $7.00 (and yes, in a bowl). Not to be missed. Manteo is the town where there is also Festival Park which was a lovely park for the dogs, also pictured below) and Fort Raleigh Historical Park where we learned all about the Lost Colony.

    The Lost Colony turns out to be a lot less mysterious than I had thought. There were two excursions funded by England to the New World in about 1585 mainly for the purpose of bringing back New World wealth. The first group had with them one artist and one scientist which is great for the historical record because there are interesting paintings of the Algonquins, how they lived, the fauna, etc. This first group of settlers recorded how welcoming and generous the Algonquins were. But the relationship soured. There are accounts of how the Algonquins would give the settlers 60 otter pelts in return for one pot and there is a general feeling in the writing that the settlors were consistently getting the better deal. And then also, the Algonquin started getting deathly ill with Western diseases. At a certain point, the settlers decided to kill the chief of the Algonquin. This may have been because the Settlors wanted more of what the Algonquin had or it may have been because the Settlors heard that the Algonquin were intending to attack them. I read both versions.

    Fortunately for the Settlers, after they killed the chief, an expedition showed up that took the lot of them off Roanoke Island and returned them to England. Two Algonquins returned with them, Manteo and Wanchese. One or two years later another group of Settlers came, this time with women and children, and this is the group that became known as the Lost Colony. It is also the group that produced Virginia Dare as the first European child born in the New Country.

    Well, would you want to be a part of this second group after the first group killed the Algonquin's chief? No. things did not go well for them and they insisted that the governor of their group return to England to bring back more supplies because guess what - the Algonquins were not being very forthcoming. When the governor left he told them that if they had to leave to write the name of where they were going on a tree, and he also told them that if they were leaving in distress to use a certain word.

    Well, the governor got back to England but due to circumstances (all boats being used in war with Spain) he was never able to get back to Roanoke. But years later another ship stopped there and there was no sign of the settlement. Neither were there graves or signs of war. Carved into a tree was the word COA which was understood to mean Croatan which is now known as Cape Hatteras. Croatan was also the home town of either Manteo and Wanchese, or both, so it makes sense that if circumstances dictated the settlers needed to leave they would go there.

    No intact evidence was ever found of the Settlers down in Croatan. However, there were indians that had grey eyes and spoke of ancestors that would talk into a book. They were very proud of these ancestors. So it seems likely that the settlers went down to the end of the Outer Banks where they might have more support from the local indians (not sure what tribe) and that they eventually melded into the group. So interesting! but I guess I always thought that they disappeared as in maybe getting beamed up.

    There's another amazing restaurant on Roanoke Island called the Front Porch which has excellent coffee brewed on site and fabulous baked muffins and other baked goods. Unusually good.

    We left Roanoke the next morning and moseyed on down to Charleston.    Läs mer

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    Charleston via Myrtle Beach

    4 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    This entry will introduce some of the trauma that (not infrequently) goes into our days. We wanted an early start to Charleston so we set out to get on the road by 9:00. We got a little behind schedule because first Harry had a terrible time getting the car hitched back up and then we were talking to our camping neighbor, Ricky, before heading out. It's a darn good thing we spent time talking to Ricky because when we pulled out of the campground we became unhitched. Yup, the car and the trailer were no long operating as one. There are two safety chains that connect you so the camper was hanging on by the safety chains and making a seriously god awful noise. We quickly pulled over on the side of a very busy road and Ricky coming crashing through the bushes to help us! Harry and Ricky got us hitched back up.
    Big trauma.

    That day had a few more snafus like going 70 miles out of way courtesy of our gps through very god-forsaken parts of North Carolina, and traffic standstills on 17 South, but we did finally find our way to Myrtle Beach State Park where we had a lovely pull through spot which means we did not have to unhitch which means Harry was a happy camper that night.

    This State Park was just lovely - we had a nice big spot in the trees, clean showers ( I think I took pictures), and a 200 yard walk out to the beach. The dogs couldn't go off leash here but they were happy (see pictures below). The Park Ranger showed us to our spot because we got here late and I asked him - since it was dark - whether there was anything to look out for when we took the dogs for a walk. He r.plied - just snakes!

    We also visited an RV Sales and Repair place one block from the State Park and the lovely service manager got on the ground and examined our hitch because it was making a horrible grating sound and we were unsurprisingly a little nervous about the hitch. He just loosened a bolt and sent us on our way.

    Do you Ashfieldans remember Mr. Donut from Route 9 in Hadley? Well, that was one of Harry's favorite donuts spots - and oddly enough, that Mr. Donut is now located in Myrtle Beach. We got one dozen for us and one dozen for the RV people. Life is good.    Läs mer

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    Charleston!

    4 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Most of you know my sister and her husband Curt live in the Charleston area. They recently moved from Mt. Pleasant which is near the beach to an area called Summerville. But we drove Jack and Sam one hour to the beach on our free morning in Charleston because we could let them off leash and they hadn't been off leash in ten days. It was worth every minute of the drive - they were so happy and roamed so far away from us. This was Sam's first foray into the water and it turns out she loves it.

    We said goodbye to Rita and Curt after a lovely restful two day visit. Everything in their house seemed so big and beautiful after a week in the camper. I mean, their house is beautiful and restful but we were taken aback by how it felt to be "on land." Thank you guys for a great visit and thank you to Rosie for allowing herself to be displaced for two day so Jack and Sam could be in the house with us! Now that's southern hospitality.

    We set off to Atlanta on Thursday, November 30th, but not before having another huge issue with the hitch. This time our savior was Hans, a maintenance man at my sister's development who had 30 years of RVing experience. He was great and left what he was doing to go work with Harry and show him some things that we hope will solve future hitch problems. One thing that has been amazing to us is how many lovely people we've met, and how even though we sometimes have tough issues, we've been able to find solutions - usually with help.

    Our overnight in Atlanta with my cousins Diane and Mike was another great stop - Mike has been retired for two years and has been diligently pursuing his passion for cooking. He's a much finer cook than either Harry or me. He has been volunteering at restaurants throughout the Atlanta area and kitchens are happy to have him. He made us a dinner of short ribs cooked in the sous vide method (cooking at a precise temp in a water bath in a vacuum sealed bag) and served the ribs with a jus he made from marrow bones (uh huh - much finer than me) over a bed of mashed cauliflower that was delicious and carrots flavored with orange zest and thyme.) These guys are awesome hosts and we loved spending time with them. Thank you Diane and Mike - please come visit us soon and experience our Puritan style New England cooking!    Läs mer

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    Lafayette, Louisiana

    4 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    We actually went from Atlanta to Pensacola Beach in the Florida Panhandle. I don't really have much to say about Pensacola Beach - this was one of the few private campgrounds we stayed at to date. That means it is more expensive (70.00 compared to the 20.00 to 25.00 we spend at State or National Parks), more crowded and just generally not as interesting. I much prefer state and national campgrounds which usually have something educational about them, interesting trails, park rangers, etc.

    This was all true of our one-night campsite in Lafayette Louisiana, where we landed Saturday, December 2nd. Lafayette is smack in the middle of Arcadiana. It was originally called Vermillionville but was renamed for General Lafayette. Our camp ground was in the middle of town, cost $20.00, and was lovely. There was a nature walk on board walks that we were able to do before it got dark, and then we went to a local restaurant called Cafe Vermilionville which is in a landmark building. We shared an appetizer plate that had, inter alia, alligator, louisiana sausage and crawfish beignets. That was awesome although I can't really tell you what alligator tastes like. Then I had a lovely wedge salad with blue cheese dressing and we shared a rib eye steak. I gotta say - I am losing my taste for rib eye steak - I'm pretty sure they do some pretty unhealthy things to the steer to get that flesh so marbled, and I've seen steers in too many cramped stock yards (Coalinga comes to mind) to feel good about eating them. We'll see.

    There were two things we wanted to do in Lafayette before heading off to Texas: one was visit a live oak tree that is supposed to be 500 years old. It's located in front of St. John's Cathedral in Lafayette and I have to tell you, I got goose bumps when I stood in front of it. The other was to visit a donut store in Lafayette called Meche's Donut King. We had never heard about it before but on our way to the Cathedral we went by it and there was a line! A very good sign. We were not disappointed. I made a video on the merits of those donuts which I will post as soon as I figure out how to do that.

    Hope everyone is well and happy! xoxoxo    Läs mer

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    Austin! 12/3 & 12/4

    6 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 3 °C

    We hit the road to Austin with full stomachs (see previous post about Meche's Donuts) and light hearts. I don't remember too much about the drive from Louisiana into Texas, but I do remember riding into Austin and thinking it looked interesting. And it was! We camped at McKinney Falls State Park and we stayed two nights, and were thinking we might stay a third. It looks like I didn't take picture of our campgrounds (record keeping is getting sloppy!) but it was nice, in the woods and as you will see from the pictures below - a great hiking path.

    Harry was bemoaning that we had travelled through North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana and hadn't eaten any barbecue so I suggested we spend out first night in Austin remedying that. We chose Cooper's on Congress Street in Downtown Austin. Oh wait, I'm forgetting the most important part of this evening. You know how we had the hitching fiasco in Charleston? Well we hadn't unhitched since then - this was going to be the first time. Actually, unhitching is no problem, getting it back on is, but we scrunched up our courage and unhitched and went to dinner.

    Cooper's was awesome! There's a mostly male waitstaff and they are all big characters but very polite and charismatic. I feel like the men in Austin are a kind of type - very polite, very gentlemanly, and kind of charming. Even though they are also sort of characters. We had a law student from Austin and I got to know him over three years and darn if he wasn't just like that. And on Monday when we were eating lunch in Austin a guy pulled his truck over suddenly right in front of us and jumped out. I thought he was crazy, but when I looked behind me I saw a woman had tripped on the curb and fallen and he had jumped out of his truck to help her!

    It also seems that there is money in Austin. When we drove into town that first night to get bbq we pulled into a public parking lot, this is late Sunday night mind you, and the machine wanted $15.00 for parking. Period. Didn't matter if you were staying an hour or 12 hours. I was standing in front of the machine ruminating about how I wasn't about to spend $15.00 when two young couples separately went up to the machine and just handed over their $15.00. I asked them if didn't they think that was expensive for public parking on a Sunday night but they kind of just looked at me like, isn't she cute? The shopping center where we went to Trader Joe's was full even though it was a weekday mid day - and the shopping center had high-end stores like William Sonoma.

    Our car needed its 6000 mile check-up so we got to drive around Austin and pretend we were Austinians doing normal every day tasks, go shopping at Trader Joe's, etc. While our car had its check up in North Austin we walked to a nearby non-touristy place for breakfast/lunch called Wild Chix & Waffles. It was in a big bland shopping center and we weren't holding out much hope for the food but we had to go there because it had an empty outside patio and we had J & S. Wrong on all counts! It had a wild interior that my artist friends would love - very original - and the food was so good! One of the pictures below is Harry eating his waffles and fried chicken. I ordered a salad (no really, I did!). Do you notice the border around Harry's plate? the owners had painted the same pattern on their floor - and there was great art on the walls - so interesting. Check out the menu on line and you get a sense of how original it was. So big surprise to open the door in a blah shopping center and walk into a fantasy.

    We were thinking we would around Austin that afternoon after doing our errands but it was too hot - going up to 85 degrees! - so we decided to take the afternoon off (from what, you ask?) and just hang out around our trailer - which we did - I used the time to get caught up on this blog. And we made dinner "at home" since we had just stocked up at TJs.

    We were uncertain what we were going to do on 12/4 and I'm really glad we were because Harry got up early to look at maps, etc., and realized that bad weather was coming in. The area we would be driving into was going to have below-freezing weather. That's another aspect of having the trailer that we have to be mindful about - we can't be in freezing weather because of the pipes, etc. We had to pack up and leaving kind of quickly because we had to drive west 8 hours to El Paso, the first place where the temps stayed above 32 at night. The good news is that we hitched up with relatively little trouble so we are hopeful we have turned a corner on that particular camper issue.

    We were in the car for about 9 hours and spent the night in a La Quinta that would accept 2 large dogs because we didn't want to have to set up camp. Harry did an amazing job - he's an awesome camper driver. I tried to drive for awhile and I could not do it - I cannot drive the camper when there is wind - the wobbling freaks me out. Our tasks have evolved as follows: Harry drives and I conduct the business of traveling. I figure out where we are going, I find our campsites, book, talk to people, make schedules. When we get to our campsite, Harry sets up (hooks up water hose, electric hose, unhitches, levels the car) and I get the dogs settled which typically means I have to walk them to get the jitters out of their legs, and then I do stuff in the inside of the camper including feeding the dogs, to get us settled in. Fortunately, our evening chores have stayed the same - Harry cooks and I clean up. Yeah!!!

    Wednesday morning, 12/6. El Paso. I took the dogs out at 6:30 am when it was still dark and discovered it had rained over night. No one was up and about yet as I walked the dogs around the La Quinta parking lot. We were right next door to a Krispy Kreme that had one lone car at the take out window, and one lone worker handing over a cup of coffee, with her cap blinking red and green with Christmas lights.    Läs mer

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    Tucson AZ 12/6 & 12/7

    8 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    The ride from El Paso to Tucson was blissfully uneventful. Before heading out we took Jack and Sam to a nearby dog park where they got to romp with some other dogs and get really really muddy with red clay dirt. After the early morning rain and gloom of El Paso, we didn't hit blue sky until we got to Arizona and its been blue skies ever since.

    Our stay is Tucson has been all about natural beauty and deep relaxation.. Our campsite is in Catalina State Park which abuts a state forest (about $25.00 a night with full hookup and a dumping station). It is lovely as you will see from the pics below and the walks we took start from our front door.

    First morning: we set out on a walk with Sam and Jack and did about 3 miles in the Sonoran desert. Beautiful day - wide sky, brilliant sun, light wind, both cool and hot depending where you were. Then we had lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant. I had a marguerita and Harry had a mojito. With lunch. Middle of the day. We never do that but it seemed like the thing to do for a Thursday in Tucson. As you can imagine, the rest of the day was not very energetic but we did do three loads of laundry in the late afternoon because Jack threw up on our bed. He's better now.

    The night sky here is dramatic and beautiful - purple mountains and a turquoise blue at the horizon when the sun goes down that you can't believe exists.

    We are closing in on our third week of being away and something about this much time on the road is creating a mental sea change. I find I can actually sit at the campsite picnic table and just sit. and look. and not be thinking about the next thing I'm supposed to do.

    My next post will just be a continuation of some Tucson pictures - I can only post 10 pictures with each entry.    Läs mer

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    Tucson, continued

    9 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
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    San Diego and LA, 12/8 & 12/9

    12 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Did I mention in my last post that I was reluctant to leave Tucson? but we did, and were in the car for about 7 hours as we travelled to San Diego. Our campground is in Bonita, California, called Sweetwater. Another State Park and nice but not great. Of course the big thing being about the San Diego-area is the near perfect weather. At first I was not that excited about being in SoCal - I was not happy about the traffic and having the camper in 7-lanes of freeway traffic. But Harry has been fearless in his driving and he arranged our free day in San Diego (Dec. 9) so my spirits picked up.

    We went to Balboa Park which is 1200 acres smack dab in the middle of San Diego that has the Zoo and 17 museums (dinosaurs, the study of humankind, photographs, and automobiles to name a few) so enormous and we were there on a Saturday. Pretty much everything we do is dictated by Jack and Sam (thus the name of this blog) because museums, for example, are not yet pet-friendly. We would have liked to see an exhibit about cannabilism but had to content ourselves with taking pictures of the gruesome poster (see below) and except doggie treats from the docent.

    Saturday was also dictated by finding dog parks for Jack and Sam which we try to do often to compensate to them for their many hours of confinement in the car. We found an off leash park within Balboa but we had our real score when we drove up the coast 20 minutes to Del Mar and found a beach that allowed dogs. Del Mar is gorgeous, tony, and right on the Pacific. It also happens to be the very first place I ever visited in California way back when, so it was interesting to revisit.

    Next morning we did our usual pulling up of stakes and headed further up the coast to LA. I have to admit, I was still out of sorts, and Harry and I experienced our first bout of snipy behavior. In some ways that is not bad after living in each other's pockets for three weeks, but just the same, unpleasant. And that is the mood in which we arrived at Kathy Glasscock's memorial service at 2:30 p.m. in "The Valley." Kathy had many accomplishments, her most recent being as a landscape designer. Her memorial was a Buddhist 49th day after death service and we got to chant. Bayliss had people over to his house after and it was lovely to hang out with some old friends and experience the peace Kathy created in her own backyard.

    We spent this night at Hal and Ricki's back in LA, right next door to where Harry lived for many years. This was the first my mood started to lift because I did not have to pretend I was feeling anything but grumpy and I could solicit advice about how they dealt with being out of sorts with each other. Ricki seemed to think that I am a control freak which of course is not true, I just always know the best way to do something. There's a difference isn't there? What???

    Anyway, enough of this soul searching, you've probably stopped reading anyway. I am all better now and on Monday we moved to an RV place in Malibu for the next three nights, 12/11 through 12/13. Yummy. Don't hate on us although without my knowledge Harry did send a picture of me in the sunshine on a day when Ashfield was getting more snow. That was a low blow.    Läs mer

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    Malibu, Oh Malibu, tis of you I sing ...

    13 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    I love Malibu and Topanga Canyon. For me this is the quintessential California experience. I don't mean the tony Malibu Colony parts, but the surfers off the side of Pacific Coast Highway, the coastline stretching out in front of you, the impossibly blue sky, the scrub, the fauna (right now parched,) the local restaurants.

    We are in an RV park about 20 miles from Topanga Canyon, on a ridge, so that when we pulled into our spot we had a view of the Pacific and could hear the waves. Delicious. This is the most expensive RV park we've been in at about $80.00 a night but the view alone makes it worthwhile. But it's also a nice park - wide spaces, nice bathrooms (I'll spare you pictures of the bathroom this time), a laundry facility with the best view of any laundry facility in the country. When you stay someplace like this, you have to resist the temptation to pop into Santa Monica or LA because you will get caught up in traffic and spoil this experience.

    We went to my favorite LA restaurant on Monday afternoon - Inn of the Seventh Ray - with our dear friend Hollis who introduced us and her son Ethan. Very Topanga Canyon, my food was infused with special elevating vibrations, etc. etc. and lunch was many hours. It's beautiful and well worth a visit if you come.

    Our time here is devoted to visiting people so not anything too interesting for you but I do have some nice pictures to show you with more to come. Hope you are well! xoxo    Läs mer

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    3 Days in Nipomo, 12/14-16

    18 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    I know many of you will have no idea where Nipomo is but it's worth a peek at your California maps - it's in the area of Santa Maria (as in Santa Maria bbq), near Guadaloupe. Our friends Casey and Susan Case live there with their two horses, Shamrock and Will, and they are at present down to one dog, Raleigh. We spent three perfect days there, along with their brother-in-law, Maurice, who was a refugee from the Carpinteria fires. He was pretty stressed out but still managed to make us fabulous Yorkshire pudding, guacamole and bread pudding out of panettone. The first pictures below are of scorched earth and smoke on our way up the coast.

    The dogs could not have been happier - Sammie tried to make friends with Shamrock, not so successful, and both Jack and Sam got to run and romp with Raleigh and Maurice's dog, Lily. I got to take 10,000 step walks with Susan, and Harry got to catch up with his dear dear friends from his Peace Corp and grad school days. sweet.

    The next two posts have more Nipomo pictures. xoxoxo to all    Läs mer

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    More Nipomo Pictures

    18 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
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    And more!

    18 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
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    Berkeley IS the Center of the Universe

    23 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 -1 °C

    Hello out there! We had another uneventful trip (PTL) from the San Luis Obispo (Nipomo) area of California on upward to Trianda and Gunther's house in El Cerrito. We left Nipomo on Sunday, December 17 and arrived some 8 short hours later in time for a very lovely Sunday holiday dinner of chicken and squash and a beautiful grain salad prepared by T & G and my dear friend Jocelyn joined us.

    El Cerrito butts right up to the San Francisco Bay and next to the San Francisco Bay is the world's best dog park. It's acres and acres with lots of places for dogs to jump into the bay and swim if they are that kind of dog - we put in 2 miles with the dogs every morning we were there.

    The other great thing about this dog park -- its called Point Isabel Dog Park by the way -- is that right in the parking lot there is a dog grooming shop and a cafe where not only can your dog go but they are off leash! It was fun and Jack and Sam were in dogs' heaven.

    This was a lovely three-day stay where we got to catch up with Trianda and Gunther (who we hope is doing amazingly well after his surgery) and Jocelyn and Vince, and a few Christmas tasks. Our recommendations for Christmas shopping are the 4th Street Shops in Berkeley and the El Cerrito Plaza, and the food at Tacubaya is the best - do not pass up the fish tacos.

    Getting close to Christmas!    Läs mer

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    Transition - California to Oregon

    24 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ -2 °C

    Up until Berkeley we had been in pretty amazing weather and we had gotten very very spoiled. But we learned that change was in the wind - freezing weather in Oregon. We had to unhitch in El Cerrito and leave our camper in front of Trianda and Gunther's house (Thanks Guys!) because the camper cannot be in freezing weather - remember the 10-hour drive from Austin to El Paso? So with mixed emotions (happy and happier) we set off for Portland, the end point of this first phase of our trip, with just the Subaru.

    Again, and I am grateful for this, we had a lovely drive to our chosen mid-way point, Ashland, Oregon. We chose Ashland solely for the fact that it divided the 10 hour drive to Portland nicely. One thing about the drive north was that neither of us had ever been on the northern parts of I-5 and it was interesting to see what the landscape was like up there - so that's what we have pictures of below - our drive from Oakland to Ashland, and then in my next post I will show you where we stayed in Ashland - which turned out to be awesome! stay tuned!    Läs mer

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    Our One Night Stay in Ashland, OR

    31 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
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    Portland!

    31 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    We arrived in Portland on Thursday, December 21, in the late afternoon, under a grey lowering sky. On the following day, Friday, Harry and I took Stella, Dino and Ary to see "Cinderella" at the Northwest Children's Theater, again under lowering skies. This was the first time that all three kids were old enough to be totally focused on the performance. Stella and Ary met all of the cast members after the performance and had their programs autographed! That evening the sky gave way and we had freezing rain or snow from that moment forward. These days in Portland were family-centered and lovely and very rejuvenating. Thank you all for putting up with us and Jack and Sam - We had a great time! On Wednesday morning, December 27, we regretfully left everyone behind and headed out on the long slog back to Oakland, arriving at our favorite hotel - The Waterfront in Jack London Square - exhausted but in time for the evening sunset.Läs mer

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    You Must See the South Oregon Coastline

    31 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    These are shots that I took on our journey from Portland to Oakland - we stopped in Eureka, CA after a very long day of driving, and got up early the next morning to continue onto Oakland. But this coastline - it is unbelievable - we were breathless.Läs mer

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    Jack London Square, Oakland, CA 12/28-29

    31 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Here's something you probably don't know about us - we love Jack London Square in Oakland California! We've stayed at the Waterfront Hotel for the last four years or so around Christmas time and love it. The hotel is on the Oakland Estuary, and abuts the Port of Oakland, one of the five largest ports in the United States. There is also a ferry just steps from the Hotel that can take you to San Francisco. The Square itself is very lively with lots of restaurants and bars (none of which we go to), and a movie theater! For two people who live 40 minutes from a movie theater, this is very exciting.

    Jack London had a strong connection to Oakland and Berkeley and later moved further north to the Sonoma area. The Square has preserved the log tavern where he drank, and the Square has about 5 sculptures from different aspects of his life - including one of White Fang.

    So we had two lovely nights here, got to see more of Trianda and Gunther, and our other dear Berkeley friends, and then, Friday morning, we reunited with our dear Camper, and headed to our last port in California before heading east - Malibu!    Läs mer

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    Happy New Year Malibu!

    31 december 2017, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    We are creeping up to midnight as I write this from the coziness that is our camper. Harry and I spent all morning cleaning - Harry worked on the car which can get pretty gross with two dogs in it all the time and I washed clothes. We cleaned the inside of our camper and then we cleaned ourselves. I think we were getting ready for the New Year. Then we took the dogs to Leo Carillo State Park to romp. It was a drop dead beautiful day with very fresh air and people were just lying around basking in the sun on the last day of 2017. I'm not posting pictures because that seems unduly harsh for our many East coast friends - but the morning was deeply relaxing.

    We met dear friends for lunch, did some shopping for dinner, and then hustled back to our spot to ring in the New Year. And so picture us here on a bluff in a Malibu RV Park finishing our Moet & Chandon, sounds of disco from the Park's New Year's Eve party slicing through the air, the dogs curled against us in our bed, and us thinking of you and hoping that 2018 is good for all those we hold near and dear. Happy New Year!

    I am just going to add pictures that I took of my favorite park in Los Angeles, the Will Roger's State Park located in Pacific Palisades (and don't confuse it with the Will Roger's State Beach.) The Park has his house and his stables and the stable is gorgeous - I include pictures of it for my horse loving friends.    Läs mer

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    Apache Junction, Lost Dutchman

    9 januari 2018, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We left Malibu for Apache Junction, Arizona where we stayed at the Lost Dutchman State Park which abuts not only Superstition Mountain which you will see in the pictures below, but also the Tonto National Forest. This was a really great camping ground - steps away from trails that led into Superstition Mountain. Inexpensive at about $20.00, but you should be careful about checking where your campsite is because the bathrooms can be quite far -- in fact, we drove to them!

    The Park is named after a German immigrant - Jacob Waltz - who actually never really was lost, and wasn't Dutch either, but the goldmine he discovered (allegedly) was lost. How does that happen? People still look for it. The Town is called Apache Junction because it is a cross road between an Apache Trail that the Apache took through the Superstition Mountains and the junction with U. S. Route 80. Finally, the mountains are called Superstition Mountains because there are many Indian legends surrounding the mountains so Superstition Mountains became a somewhat dismissive name given by the white folk to the Mountains.

    The most challenging hike at Lost Dutchman Park is climbing to the Flat Iron peak of Superstition Mountain which takes about three hours to do one way and involves hard climbing at certain parts (bouldering?) Neither of us are really prone to accepting physical challenges, except for Harry's days of marathoning, but I took it into my head to climb to a lower part of Superstition Mountain. After much stopping and starting, we made it. I believe we were in excess of 4,500 feet there, but let's be clear, the camping area is at 4,000 feet. This State Park would be a great place to train and eventually do the more challenging Flat Iron hike. I'm pretty sure some of my friends (Tamara?) would be able to do it just right out of the box.

    We were lucky to meet up with some great friends on this segment of our trip. We had a lovely dinner with Harry's cousins, Russ and Edna, while here and that was awesome! They live 30 minutes from Apache Junction but were kind enough to join us in AJ since we had driven all day. Thanks Guys! The next night we drove 30 or so minutes to Fountain Hills to have dinner with Harry's old Peace Corps pals Kirby and Linda. That was really fun.

    After two nights in Apache Junction we set off for Las Cruces where we had another great dinner, again with Harry's friends from the Peace Corps, Linda and Dan. Great seeing you Linda and Dan! We didn't spend too much time in Las Cruces, just enough to explore the Mesilla area, which borders Las Cruces, and we added a goat, Billy, to our camping family. I'm sure you will see him in later pictures. Mesilla is an authentic part of the old West, having affiliations with Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and Pancho Villa. I think these guys were interested in Mesilla because it served as a stage coach hub for many years. But then when the railroad came through this area, it went through neighboring Las Cruces rather than Mesilla (they wanted too much for the land), which resulted in Las Cruces becoming a booming town and Mesilla staying small and joining the National Historic Register.

    I am including some pictures of the terrain going deep into East Texas - destination Davis Mountains State Park -- where we planned on visiting Marfa, Texas!    Läs mer

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    Las Cruces to Texas

    13 januari 2018, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    We Left Las Cruces and headed to Davis Mountains State Park - deep in Western Texas. Why you might ask. One word - Marfa. We had heard of Marfa on our way to California earlier in December, and then our good friend Vince was going there - so we figured - better see it now because who knows when we’ll be this way again, etc etc. All we knew about Marfa was that it was a mecca for art installations and that “art installation” is sometimes considered a vulgar expression. We ended up going to Davis Mountains State Park because that is the closest state park to Marfa.

    I took some ordinary shots of landscape between Las Cruces and the Davis Mountains of Western Texas just trying to convey the vastness of Texas. Some are in my previous blog post and some I hope will be with this one. Beautiful light, beautiful expanses of land. Texas continues to amaze.

    We got to the State Park at a beautiful time of the day - the magic hour in movie parlance - and set up camp for the night. By the way, this State Park is beautiful and as usual, we paid about $25.00 a night to stay. The odd animal in this park is a Javalina, which looks like a boar but is called a peccary and is not in the pig family

    As we set up camp a family came by and told us about the McDonald Observatory which was just up the road, and something happening that night called a “Star Party.” The Observatory is affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin and is located at the top of one of the Davis Mountain Peaks. We went to an early twilight show, in addition to the “Star Party.” The earlier show was over my head, a grad student type talking about “plane of the ecliptic” and reporting there were actually 13 zodiac signs - the 13th one being Ophiuchus. I left the lecture and took the sunset picture below. At 7:00 we went to the Star Party and that was lovely. The Observatory takes light pollution very seriously - kids with those sneakers that make light had to get masking tape to put over their sneaks. Our lecturer was knowledgeable and accessible and we saw some great cosmic sites but the piece de resistance of the evening was going around to the various telescopes set up and seeing what was on the menu for this night. We went to two and saw nebulae and Uranus!

    The next morning we drove the twenty miles to explore Marfa. Marfa owes its fame to Donald Judd, an artist who worked from the forties to the beginning of the nineties. I thought I had read somewhere that Judd first became familiar with Marfa due to being stationed there, there used to be an Army base here, but have not been able to confirm that. He worked in many different mediums but what we went to see in Marfa were his concrete structures.

    I think Judd may have been one of the first artists to have others construct his work and he defended this practice arguing that methods should not matter as long as the results create art. He also advocated for permanent installations for his work and that of others believing that temporary exhibitions, being designed by curators for the public, “placed the art itself in the background, ultimately degrading it due to incompetency or incomprehension.” That’s a quote from Wikipedia! Judd rented his first house in Marfa, which is really truly in the middle of nowhere, in 1971 in part to have space for his art to be permanently displayed. Over the years he bought thousands of acres, some of them from the Army, and used all of them for various purposes related to his art, and of course, living space. Some of these lands are now managed by the the Chinati Foundation whose purpose is to keep art in the space in which it was created. Other artists are housed here as well, but we focused on Judd.

    A note on the town of Marfa itself: I don’t know what we expected but Marfa surprised us. It was on the whole very unprepossessing and hard to figure out. It is very underdeveloped except for some chichi hotels and stores which look crazily out of place. We did manage to find a really good place to have breakfast and I, of course, captured the food below.

    From Marfa we drove to Austin where we had mundane business things to take care of - car’s 12,000 mile checkup, etc. We did many of the same things we did in Austin on our first visit with the exception that we tried a different bbq place, The Salt Lick, located in Driftwood, Texas. You have to go to a place like that just because of the name, right? We left Austin after two nights to visit Galveston, a town that for some unclear reason I have aways wanted to see. Fortunately Harry agreed!    Läs mer

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